Raja''s arrest pure theatrics: Jaya

Published: Wednesday, February 2, 2011, 21:46 [IST]

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Chennai, Feb 2 (PTI) Dismissing former Union TelecomMinister A Raja''s arrest in the 2G spectrum scam as smackingof "pure theatrics", AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa today said itmight be used by Congress as a "pressure tactic" for a betterdeal from DMK during seat-sharing talks for the coming TamilNadu Assembly polls.

Terming the arrest a clear case of "too little, too late",Jayalalithaa said she was also inclined to believe that bothCBI and Congress-led UPA Government were trying to give animpression that they were taking action as per law on theissue.

"In the final analysis, I shall be satisfied only if theUPA accedes to the opposition demand for a Joint ParliamentaryCommittee probe into the scam," she said in a statement here.

The arrest of Raja "at this late hour" smacks of puretheatrics by the CBI in the face of pressure from the SupremeCourt to show results in an investigation that has been"gathering dust for close to two years", she said.

"The arrest raised more questions than it answered andmany questions had been left unanswered", she said, addingthat it seems to be a ruse to hoodwink the public and also totell the Supreme Court that some action has been taken withregard to the 2-G spectrum scam.

She said AIADMK''s demand for a JPC probe stood as theCentre had contradicted itself several times on the issue.

While the CAG, an arm of the Government, in his report hadsaid that the enormous scam had caused a presumptive loss ofover Rs 1,76,000 crore to the nation, Telecom Minister KapilSibal had said no loss had been caused to the nation by Raja,she said.

"If Raja had done nothing wrong, then why has he beenarrested by the CBI? The purpose of the arrest becomes all themore suspect against the background of a clean chit given byRaja''s successor in office, Sibal, who used all the legalskulduggery at his command to claim that not even a rupee hasbeen lost by the nation despite the patently fraudulentactions initiated by Raja while allotting valuable 2G spectrumto a whole lot of letter-pad companies," she said.

Sibal''s defence of Raja came after the CAG, and theCentral Vigilance Commission, the High Court of Delhi andseveral other Constitutional bodies had held that severalirregularities had been committed in the allocation oftelecom licences by Raja.

"What is Kapil Sibal''s stand now? Does he stand by what hesaid? Or will he come up with another bout of convolutedreasoning? If the CBI''s intentions are genuine, a lot morepersons should have been arrested by now," she said.